1923 Yankees

The Road to Victory – How did the Yankees receive their first World Series Win?

It’s October 16th, 1923. The Yankees just received their inaugural title against the New York Giants in a 6-4 matchup after have three years in a row worth of matchups for the World Series. But the question is how, did the Yankees get to this first big win for the infamous baseball team from New York? The 1923 season was a year of the 3 R’s rebirth, redemption, and revenge. All it would take was the magic of Babe Ruth, a new stadium, and determination, and the Yankees finally receive the title. The Yankees manager at the time, Miller Huggins led the team to their straight pennant with a 98-53 record. The Yankees eventually took second place of the Detroit Tigers in the American League. At the end of the season they avenged their 1921 and 1922 losses by the Giants in 6 games.

Ruth’s house is built

When considering the Yankees’ rebirth, the iconic first Yankee Stadium opened in 1923 after the Yankees had used two fields, Hilltop Park from 1903-1912 and the Polo Grounds from 1912-1922. The Yankees had previously shared Polo Grounds with the New York Giants which they eventually grew out of because of the Polo Grounds’ rent prices. The Yankee owners Ruppert and Huston made a move to build a new stadium that would be called “Yankee Stadium.” Ruppert would eventually buy out Yankee Stadium and become the sole owner of the New York Yankees. The raising of rent at the Polo grounds allowed Ruppert and Huston to make a profitable move to buy land located in the Bronx across the Harlem River for 675,000 ( worth 10,310,189 now!) After making this move, land the was starting to be struck in May of 1922. The Stadium would take 11 months to build and cost $.2 million. Yankee Stadium was the first ballpark with three tiers of seating, and the first ballpark referred to as a stadium. The Stadium opened on April 18th, 1923. This stadium held 58,000 people. At the end of the season Babe Ruth ended up winning the MVP award, rightfully so because he held the Yankees to winning the World Series.

Hit the ground running/ Opening Day!

On January 5th, 1920, the Yankees announced that they purchased a heavy-hitting outfielder George Herman “Babe” Ruth from the Boston Red Sox for the sum of $125,000. You may ask why I mentioned a baseball player transaction from three years prior, this is because after seeing Ruth play at the other ballparks, the owners of the Yankees decided to build Yankees Stadium around Ruth, in which the construction ended up being excellent in the fact that Ruth ended up hitting a home run in the first game in the new stadium. The stadium was nicknamed “The House that Ruth Built” Ruth had doubled Yankees’ attendance which helped the team pay for the new stadium. Babe Ruth had beaten his whole team with stats with 205 hits, 151 runs, 41 home runs, 131 runs batted in and a .393 batting average. Babe Ruth hit his first home run here to start off the World Series. Not only was Babe Ruth a great significance to the team but Louis Gehrig also had a debut during the 1923 season.

Breakdown of World Series Games

Game 1- October 10th 1923, Loss of a shoe?

The Giants won the first game of the World Series. With a total of 55,307 people in attendance. The Giants scored 5 runs, while the Yankees scored 4. The Giants had eight hits, the Yankees had twelve, and there was one error by the Yankees. Babe Ruth didn’t hit the game-winning home run. Casey Stengel, a Giants outfielder at the time, would go on to become a Hall of Fame manager for the Yankees 25 years later. Stengel’s shoe was loose as he rounded the bases for an inside-the-park home run, causing him to lose his shoe after the home run! He was the first to hit a home run! Waight Hoyt took the Yankee’s mound in the game only lasted two and third innings, allowing four runs on four hits. Busch took over Hoyt’s relief and pitched well until Casey Stengel hit a game-winning inside-the-park home run in the ninth inning.

Game 2- October 11th, 1923 TIED

Game 2 is won by the Yankees! The game drew a crowd of 40,402 people. The Yankees scored four runs per game, while the Giants had two. The Yankees had ten hits to the Giants’ nine, and the Giants had two errors. Babe Ruth returned to the Polo Grounds for Game 2, a park where he loved to hit, and he responded by hitting two home runs in the Yankees’ 2-1 win to tie the series at one game apiece. In addition to Babe Ruth’s two solo home runs, Herb Pennock was instrumental in the Yankees’ victory. Pennock, the American League’s winning percentage leader in 1923, pitched all nine innings in game two, allowing just two runs and tying the series at one game apiece.

Game 3 October 12th, 1923 1-0? For A World Series?!

With 62,420 fans in attendance, the Yankees lost again in the third game. The Giants got one run on four hits, while the Yankees got four hits and one error. When the series returned to Yankee Stadium for game three, the game was scoreless until Casey Stengel hit his second World Series home run. .The only run that was scored and one to nothing Giants triumph it was the first one to nothing game in World Series history in which the only run scored was on a home run newspapers the next day had a great time reporting that the record of the series was Stengel two Yankees one. Casey Stengel was indeed the game three hero, but he came down to a pitching duel between Art Nehf and Sam Jones. The Giants starter won the game by pitching a six-hit shutout, putting the Yankees in a two-game deficit.

Game 4 October 13th, 1923

With 46,302 fans in attendance, the Yankees have yet another victory. However, after losing two of the first three games of the 1923 series, the Yankees came back to win Game Four, scoring six runs in the second inning to pull ahead of the New York Giants, and that was all the Yankees needed in an 8-4 victory over their Gotham City rivals Bob Shawky, After allowing three runs over seven and third innings, he earned the win at the end of a 15-year career. Herb Pennock contributed to the win by recording his first career postseason save.

Game 5 October 14th, 1923 The smelling of a victory

The Yankees put on a show for nearly 63,000 Yankee Stadium fans in game five. They burst out of the gate once again, scoring seven runs in the first two innings. Joe Dugan and Bob Musa combined for six RBI, while Joe Bush pitched a one-run three-hit shutout.

Game 6 October 15th, 1923 World Series CHAMPIONS

This game drew a total of 34,172 spectators. Babe Ruth hit a solo home run in the first inning of Game 6 at the Polo Grounds, but the Yankees fell behind four to one-eighth inning when a five-run rally led the Yankees to their first-ever World Series championship. Babe Ruth, Bob Musil, and Herb Pennock all pitched in to help the Yankees win game six. Finally, the Yankees won their first World Championship, and it was in their new stadium, which drew crowds of over 60,000 people and broke the record for ticket sales at the time of over one million dollars.

The Yankees impact on the 1920s.

The 1920s were the Golden Age of American Sports and the Age of the Spectator. The 1920s was the decade of baseball and pastime as well. Because of the strong economy of the time workers had more leisure time to enjoy bigger stadiums and gymnasiums. With the building of stadiums was also the introduction to the radio and newspapers to keep coverage of baseball during this decade. The 1920s was also the emergence of the most famous athlete in the United States, Babe Ruth who was the right fielder for the Yankees not only with his skills but his personality everyone loved Ruth. Ruth was one of the heroes when you reflect on the 1920s. Because of how big baseball was for the 1920s it was a great set up for spectators after the 1920s and decades to come. Baseball in the 1920s lined up perfec

Timelime

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Bibliography:

Times, T., n.d. The New York Times Story of the Yankees.

New York Yankees Newspaper Book told through the Washington Post

Bain News Service, Publisher. Opening DayYankee Stadium baseball. , 1923. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2014715917/.